OVERVIEW

Welcome to the Solar Irradiance data support web site located at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC). The GES DISC provides end-to-end support for all public solar irradiance data products from SORCE, TCTE and UARS.

SORCE was launched on January 25, 2003 aboard a Pegasus XL rocket. SORCE is a key element in NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) with the aim of measuring the solar radiation incident on the Earth's upper atmosphere. Management of SORCE is provided by the Labratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The SORCE spacecraft includes four instruments: the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), the Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE), the Solar Irradiance Monitor (SIM), and the soft X-ray Ultraviolet Photometer System (XPS).These instruments use state-of-the-art technology to provide more accurate spectral and total solar irradiance measurements compared to precursor sensors.

The TSI Calibration Transfer Experiment (TCTE) is a follow-on to the successful SORCE mission and includes a TIM instrument similar to the one flown on SORCE. TCTE was launched on 17 Nov. 2003 aboard the Air Force’s STPSat-3 spacecraft with a minimum 1.5 year lifetime. TCTE is also managed by LASP.

Other solar irradiance data available at the GES DISC include data from the UARS SOLSTICE and SUSIM instruments. These two instruments were launched in 1993 aboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) and made daily solar spectral irradiance measurements until 2005.

You may download the latest public data products by selecting the "Data Access" link on the menu bar.If you have questions on GES DISC data product support and services, please contact us.